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Communism

2012-02-18T02:37:35Z

173.245.55.236:

Marxism was started by a German philosopher named Karl Marx, Marxism advocates statism, militarism, dictatorship,and totalitarianism. A common misconception exists that Friedrich Engels helped Marx write his works on Capitalism see : (freedom) this is not true, Karl Marx has split personality disorder along with various other mental issues, Engels was actually one of Marx's personalities. Marx had a fallout with this personality in 1848 which caused him to kill off this personality. Karl Marx advocated state-Atheism but he himself followed the religious school of Satanism. Karl Marx ousted the French government in a coup d'ete and held Parisians hostage for 6 months executing 970,000 people through the course of his bloody reign of terror.

The second Marxist revolution occured in Russia notable figures include Lenin, Stalin, Bukharin, Zinoviev & Trotksy. Trotsky had waged a sucesful rebellion in Petrograd when it was coup'd by the Stalinists in 1918 the Stalinist faction was led by Lenin initially but Stalin killed Lenin while Lenin was sleeping in 1929 along with Zinoviev and Bukharin. Lenin's initail regime which only lasted 5 years killed 24 million people, Stalin took power afterwards and immediatly undid the NEP policy and prevented the USSR from indsutrializing leaving it a third world nation, Stalin orderd the genocide of Ukrainians and Kazakstanis in the 1930s which led to the deaths of 20 million people, Stalins gulag labor camps also killed 24,000,000 and ineffecient Soviet agricultrue (collectivism) starved 4,000,000,000. Stalin was an imperialist against the Polish, German, Czechoslovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Mongolian, Korean, Spanish, Greek & Ukrainian people. Leon Trotsky and Josef Broz Tito were self-proclaimed Communists but always served the forces of good (Capitalism) and the USA.

After 1945 a bloody Marxist revolution occured in China led by Mao Zedong, Zouh Enlai, Lin Biao, Deng Xioping, Liu Shaoqui & Kim Il Sung (who would form Marxist Kora) created the "People's" "republic" of "China", Chinese freedom fighters who fought for free elections. democratic reform as well as a fairer government escaped to Taiwan while others were killed for no reason without trial or a second thought. Mao launched the great leep forward that created a man-made engineered famine that killed 89,250,000 people by lowest estimates. And launched the cultural revolution which killed an additional 20,000,000 to serve his Stalinist agenda.

Stalinism has made a reemergence in the United States since Obama took power.

Communism

2012-02-18T02:36:24Z

173.245.55.236: K

Marxism was started by a German philosopher named Karl Marx, Marxism advocates statism, militarism, dictatorship, totalitarianism and rape. A common misconception exists that Friedrich Engels helped Marx write his works on Capitalism see : (freedom) this is not true, Karl Marx has split personality disorder along with various other mental issues, Engels was actually one of Marx's personalities. Marx had a fallout with this personality in 1848 which caused him to kill off this personality. Karl Marx advocated state-Atheism but he himself followed the religious school of Satanism. Karl Marx ousted the French government in a coup d'ete and held Parisians hostage for 6 months executing 970,000 people through the course of his bloody reign of terror.

The second Marxist revolution occured in Russia notable figures include Lenin, Stalin, Bukharin, Zinoviev & Trotksy. Trotsky had waged a sucesful rebellion in Petrograd when it was coup'd by the Stalinists in 1918 the Stalinist faction was led by Lenin initially but Stalin killed Lenin while Lenin was sleeping in 1929 along with Zinoviev and Bukharin. Lenin's initail regime which only lasted 5 years killed 24 million people, Stalin took power afterwards and immediatly undid the NEP policy and prevented the USSR from indsutrializing leaving it a third world nation, Stalin orderd the genocide of Ukrainians and Kazakstanis in the 1930s which led to the deaths of 20 million people, Stalins gulag labor camps also killed 24,000,000 and ineffecient Soviet agricultrue (collectivism) starved 4,000,000,000. Stalin was an imperialist against the Polish, German, Czechoslovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Mongolian, Korean, Spanish, Greek & Ukrainian people. Leon Trotsky and Josef Broz Tito were self-proclaimed Communists but always served the forces of good (Capitalism) and the USA.

After 1945 a bloody Marxist revolution occured in China led by Mao Zedong, Zouh Enlai, Lin Biao, Deng Xioping, Liu Shaoqui & Kim Il Sung (who would form Marxist Kora) created the "People's" "republic" of "China", Chinese freedom fighters who fought for free elections. democratic reform as well as a fairer government escaped to Taiwan while others were killed for no reason without trial or a second thought. Mao launched the great leep forward that created a man-made engineered famine that killed 89,250,000 people by lowest estimates. And launched the cultural revolution which killed an additional 20,000,000 to serve his Stalinist agenda.

Stalinism has made a reemergence in the United States since Obama took power.

Austrian predictions

2012-02-01T17:38:48Z

173.245.55.236: /* The Great Depression */

This page attempts to list various predictions made by Austrian economists about important economic and other developments.

'''Important note:''' Austrian economists, as Austrian economists, or [[Praxeology|praxeologists]], do not predict. They can predict not as formal economists, or praxeologists, but, rather, in their role as [[Thymology|thymologists]], or economic historians. In praxeology, A causes B, other things remaining the same. But, in the real world, other things cannot be relied upon to always remain constant. Therefore, predictions of the "A will necessarily lead to B" type are strictly prohibited. Instead, praxeologists, but not thymologists, must limit themselves to statements of the if-A then-B variety.<ref name="Block_Thymologists">Walter Block. [http://www.lewrockwell.com/block/block168.html Austrian Thymologists Who Predicted the Housing Bubble], ''LRC.com'', December 22, 2010. Referenced 2011-11-29.</ref>

==The Great Depression==
The [[Great Depression]] was predicted by several Austrian economists:

* In Austria, economist [[Ludwig von Mises]] saw the problem developing in its early stages and predicted to his colleagues in 1924 that the large Austrian bank, [[Credit Anstalt]], would eventually crash. He wrote a full analysis of [[Irving Fisher|Irving Fisher’s]] monetary views, published in 1928, where he targeted Fisher’s reliance on price indexes as a key vulnerability that would bring about the Great Depression, concluding: "because of the imperfection of the index number, these calculations would necessarily lead in time to errors of very considerable proportions."<ref name="Mises_Causes">Ludwig von Mises. [http://mises.org/resources/3361 "The Causes of the Economic Crisis, and Other Essays Before and After the Great Depression"], collection of works reposted from 1923 and 1928. Referenced 2011-01-12.</ref>
* [[F. A. Hayek]] published several articles in early 1929 in which he predicted the collapse of the American boom.{{Citation needed}} [[Felix Somary]], who like Mises was a student at the University of Vienna, issued several dire warnings in the late 1920s.{{Citation needed}}
* In America economists [[Benjamin Anderson]] and [[E.C. Harwood]] also warned that the Federal Reserve policies would cause a crisis, and like Somary, they were largely ignored.<ref name="Thornton_Mises">Mark Thornton. [http://mises.org/journals/scholar/Thornton16.pdf "Mises vs. Fisher on Money, Method, and Prediction: The Case of the Great Depression"] (pdf), p.13-15; December 2006. Referenced 2011-12-13.</ref> Albert H. Wiggin summed up in 1931 that the "depression has been prolonged and not alleviated by delay in making necessary readjustments."<ref name="Rothbard_Wiggin">Murray N. Rothbard. [[America's Great Depression]], Chapter 9, referenced 2011-01-11.</ref>

==End of the Bretton Woods system==
The collapse of the [[Bretton Woods System]] and the following rise of the gold price has been predicted by several Austrian economists and is covered in the following:

* Rothbard, Murray. 1962. [[The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar]] 

* Hazlitt, Henry. 1934 until 1946 [http://mises.org/resources/3967 From Bretton Woods to World Inflation: A Study of Causes and Consequences] (editorials for New York Times) 

==Dot-com bubble==
{{Main|Austrian predictions/Dot-com bubble}}
The [[Dot-com bubble]] and its bust was foreseen by several Austrian economists.<ref name="Thornton_Bubble">Mark Thornton. [http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_09_1_1_thornton.pdf "Who Predicted the Bubble? Who Predicted the Crash?"] (pdf), ''The Independent Review'', v. IX, n. 1, Summer 2004, ISSN 1086-1653, Copyright © 2004, pp. 5–30. Referenced 2011-12-13.</ref> In October, 1999, [[Sean Corrigan]] pointed out a massive bubble and implied it will burst. He compared the conditions to those during the late summer of [[Black Monday (1987)|1987]], the [[Japanese asset price bubble|Japanese bubble]] of the late 1980s, and the "[[roaring Twenties]]" in the United States. <ref name="Corrigan_Pop">Sean Corrigan. [http://mises.org/daily/317 "Will the Bubble Pop?"], ''Mises Daily'', October 18, 1999. Referenced 2012-01-08.</ref> In March, 2000, [[Christopher Mayer]] noted that all the ingredients of a bubble - fundamental (i.e., a technological revolution), financial (i.e., a surge in money and credit) and psychological (i.e., a suspension of belief in traditional valuation measures) - appear to exist in the current bull market and predicted it will end with a bust.<ref name="Mayer_Over-Valued">Christopher Mayer. [http://mises.org/daily/405 "The Meaning of 'Over-Valued'"], ''Mises Daily'', March 30, 2000. Referenced 2011-12-13.</ref> In August, 2000, [[William Anderson]] pointed to the bubble in the high-technology sector, mentioned the negative consequences of a regulatory attack at Microsoft<ref name="Anderson_Delusion">William L. Anderson. [http://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=316 "New Economy, Old Delusion"], ''The Free market'', August 2000, Volume 18, Number 8. Referenced 2012-01-08.</ref> (which was analyzed a year earlier by [[Thomas DiLorenzo]]<ref name="DiLorenzo_Sneak">DiLorenzo, Thomas J. [http://mises.org/daily/297 "Regulatory Sneak Attack."], ''Mises Daily'', September 16, 1999. Referenced 2012-01-08.</ref>). There were others.

'''Reference shortlist:''' 
Anderson, 2000; Corrigan, 1999; Deden, 1999; DiLorenzo, 1999; Grant, 1996A, 1996B; Hülsmann, 2000; Mayer, 2000; Paul, 2000; Reisman, 1999; Sennholz, 2000; Shostak, 1999; Thornton, 2000.

* Anderson, William. 2000. "[http://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=316 New Economy, Old Delusion.]" The Free Market, August
* Corrigan, Sean. 1999. "[http://mises.org/daily/317 Will the Bubble Pop?]", October 18
* Deden, Anthony. 1999. "[http://www.safehaven.com/article/778/reflections-on-prosperity Reflections On Prosperity]" December 29
* DiLorenzo, Thomas J. 1999. "[http://mises.org/daily/297 Regulatory Sneak Attack.]" September 16
* Grant, James. 1996A. The Trouble with Prosperity, May
* Grant, James. 1996B [http://mises.org/journals/aen/aen16_4_1.asp The Trouble with Prosperity], Winter 1996, Interview
* Hülsmann, Jörg G. 2000. Schöne neue Zeichengeldwelt
* Mayer, Christopher. 2000. "[http://mises.org/daily/405 The Meaning of 'Over-Valued']", March 30.
* Paul, Ron. 2000. "[http://ronpaulforcongress.com/html/republic.html A Republic, If You Can Keep It]" January 31
* Reisman, George. 1999. "[http://mises.org/daily/284 When Will the Bubble Burst?]", August 18
* Sennholz, Hans. 2000. "[http://mises.org/daily/477 Can the Boom Last?]", July 31
* Shostak, Frank. 1999. "[http://mises.org/daily/309 Inflation, Deflation, and the Future]". October 7
* Thornton, Mark. 2000. "[http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_09_1_1_thornton.pdf Who Predicted the Bubble? Who Predicted the Crash?]" (pdf), ''The Independent Review'', Summer 2004

==Housing bubble==
{{Main|Austrian predictions/Housing bubble}}
During and after the burst of the [[Dot-com bubble]], numerous economists predicted the 2000s housing bubble that culminated in the [[Great Recession]] from 2008 onward.

In '''2002''', [[Robert Blumen]] summed up the effect of the activities of Fannie and Freddie on the housing market as shows the systemic risk and foresaw a coming bailout.<ref name="Blumen_Fannie">Blumen, Robert. [http://mises.org/daily/986 "Fannie Mae Distorts Markets"], ''Mises Daily'', June 17, 2002. Referenced 2011-01-10.</ref> [[Sean Corrigan]] pointed to the blooming real estate business among all the bankruptcies, and noted that real estate bubbles tend to pop several years after stock market bubbles, and that mortgages may fare much worse compared to stocks... along with their owners.<ref name="Corrigan_Trouble">Corrigan, Sean. [http://mises.org/daily/994 "The Trouble with Debt"], ''Mises Daily'', July 01, 2002. Referenced 2011-01-10.</ref> Congressman [[Ron Paul]] criticized government involvement in housing, and said that like all artificially created bubbles, the boom in housing prices cannot last forever.<ref name="Paul_Testimony">Paul, Ron. [http://paul.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=323&Itemid=60 "Testimony to U.S. House of Representatives"], July 16, 2002. Referenced 2011-01-10.</ref>

In '''2004''', [[Mark Thornton]] wrote that higher interest rates (indicated by the Fed) "should trigger a reversal in the housing market and expose the fallacies of the new paradigm, including how the housing boom has helped cover up increases in price inflation. Unfortunately, this exposure will hurt homeowners and the larger problem could hit the American taxpayer, who could be forced to bailout the banks and government-sponsored mortgage guarantors who have encouraged irresponsible lending practices."<ref name="Thornton_Housing">Thornton, Mark. "[http://mises.org/daily/1533 Housing: too good to be true.]" June 4, 2004. Referenced 2011-01-10.</ref> Later on, he spelled out the consequences for the construction industry, unemployment, foreclosures, bankruptcies, bailouts of banks and GSEs, and a long recession.<ref name="Thornton">Thornton, Mark. [http://mises.org/journals/scholar/Thornton13.pdf "The Economics of Housing Bubbles"], June 2006, p. 27, 29, 31. Referenced 2011-01-10.</ref>

[[Stefan Karlsson]] wrote that the next crisis will be more serious than the mild recession of 2001 one; as it is, in fact, that very same crisis, only postponed.<ref name="Karlsson_Unsustainable">Karlsson, Stefan. [http://mises.org/daily/1670 "America's Unsustainable Boom"], ''Mises Daily'', November 8, 2004. Referenced 2011-01-10.</ref>

In '''2005''', [[Doug French]] after observing the mania in Vegas, quipped "condos are the last segment of the housing market to catch fire in a boom and the first to crater in a bust.", and concluded that the bust must be close.<ref name="French_Condo-mania">French, Doug. [http://mises.org/daily/4403 "Condo-mania."], ''Mises Daily'', July 11, 2005. Referenced 2011-01-10.</ref> [[Gary North]] warned against the danger of ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages).<ref name="North_Surreal">North, Gary. [http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north416.html "Surreal Estate on the San Andreas Fault."], November 25, 2005. Referenced 2011-01-10.</ref>

Investor [[Peter Schiff]] acquired fame in a series of TV appearances (most in 2006 and 2007), where he opposed a multitude of financial experts and claimed that a bust was to come.<ref name="Schiff_Right">Schiff, Peter. "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0QN-FYkpw&feature=related Peter Schiff Was Right]" (video). Referenced 2011-01-10.</ref> He was warning about the speculation, ARMs, houses that couldn't be sold, people walking away from them and coming bailouts for several years before in print.<ref name="Schiff_Commentary_2003">Schiff, Peter. [http://www.europac.net/commentaries/fed_official_admits_emperor_has_no_clothes "Fed official admits the emperor has no clothes!"], Commentary, March 10, 2003. Referenced 2011-01-10.</ref><ref name="Schiff_Commentary_2004">Schiff, Peter. [http://www.europac.net/commentaries/arms_way_tender_trap_adjustable_rate_mortgages "In Arm's Way: The Tender Trap of Adjustable Rate Mortgages."], Commentary, May 7, 2004. Referenced 2011-01-10.</ref><ref name="Schiff_Commentary_2005">Schiff, Peter. [http://www.europac.net/commentaries/housing_speculation_more_rampant_you_think "Housing Speculation is More Rampant Than You Think."], Commentary, July 5, 2005. Referenced 2011-01-10.</ref>

'''Reference shortlist:''' 
Anderson, 2001, 2003, 2007; Armentano, 2004; Beale, 2009; Blumen, 2002, 2004, 2005; Corrigan, 2002; Crovelli, 2006; DeCoster, 2003; Duffy, 2005A, 2005B, 2005C, 2005D, 2006, 2007A, 2007B, 2007C, 2007D; Economics of contempt, 2008; Englund, 2004, 2005A, 2005B, 2005C, 2005D, 2006, 2007, 2008; French, 2005; Grant, 2001; Karlsson, 2004; MacKenzie, 2003; Mayer, 2003; Mueller, 2004; Murphy, 2007, 2008; North, 2002, 2005; Paul, 2000, 2002; Polleit, 2006; Ptak, 2003; Rockwell, 2002, 2008; Rogers, 2005; Schiff, Undated A, Undated B, Undated C, Undated D, 2003A, 2003B, 2003C, 2004A, 2004B, 2005A, 2005B, 2005C, 2005D, 2006A, 2006B, 2006C, 2007A, 2007B; Sennholz, 2002; Shostak, 2003, 2005; Thornton, 2004A, 2004B, 2005A, 2005B, 2005C, 2006, 2007A, 2007B, 2007C, 2007D; Trask, 2003; Wenzel, 2004; See also Woods (2009, p. 188 for further bibliography).

* Anderson, William L. 2001. "[http://mises.org/daily/617 The Party is Over]," February 20
* Anderson, William L. 2003. "[http://mises.org/daily/1265 Recovery or Boomlet?]" July 07
* Anderson, William L. 2007. "[http://mises.org/daily/2675 The Party is Over – Again]," August 30
* Armentano, Dominick. 2004. "[http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=2510 Memo to Federal Reserve: Increase Interest Rates Now!]"
* Beale, Theodore. 2009. "[http://superstore.wnd.com/books/WND-Books/The-Return-of-the-Great-Depression-Autographed-Hardcover The Return of the Great Depression]"
* Blumen, Robert. 2002. "[http://mises.org/daily/986 Fannie Mae Distorts Markets.]" Mises Daily, June 17
* Blumen, Robert. 2004. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/blumen4.html All Real Estate, All the Time]". March 8
* Blumen, Robert. 2005. "[http://blog.mises.org/3566/housing-bubble-are-we-there-yet/ Housing Bubble: Are We There Yet?]" May 8
* Corrigan, Sean. 2002. "[http://mises.org/daily/994 The Trouble with Debt]". July 01
* Crovelli, Mark R. 2006. "[http://www.kitco.com/ind/crovelli/may312006.html Gold, Inflation, And... Austria?]" May 31
* De Coster, Karen. 2003. "[http://karendecoster.com/the-house-that-greenspan-built-irrationally-exuberant-wall-street-welfare-parasites-and-their-fed-god.html The House that Greenspan Built: Irrationally Exuberant Wall Street Welfare Parasites and Their Fed-God.]" September 12
* Duffy, Kevin. 2005A "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/duffy2.html The Super Bowl Indicator,]" February 5
* Duffy, Kevin. 2005B. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/duffy3.html Honey, I Shrunk the Net Worth]," March 3
* Duffy, Kevin. 2005C. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/duffy4.html Alan, We Have a Problem,]" August 2
* Duffy, Kevin. 2005D. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/duffy5.html Panic Now and Beat the Rush,]" September 24
* Duffy, Kevin. 2006. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/duffy8.html Are Mortgage Borrowers Rational?]" June 24
* Duffy, Kevin. 2007A. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/duffy/duffy10.html It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,]" May 22
* Duffy, Kevin. 2007B. "[http://www.bearingasset.com/media/media_barrons_20070618.pdf For Whom Do the Bells Toll?]" Barron’s, June 18
* Duffy, Kevin. 2007C. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/duffy/duffy11.html Financial Markets on Crack,]" August 22
* Duffy, Kevin. 2007D. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/duffy/duffy12.html Mr. Mozilo Goes to Washington,]" September 15
* Economics of contempt. 2008. "[http://economicsofcontempt.blogspot.com/2008/07/official-list-of-punditsexperts-who.html The Unofficial List of Pundits/Experts Who Were Wrong on the Housing Bubble.]" July 16
* Englund, Eric. 2004. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/englund/englund13.html Monetizing Envy and America’s Housing Bubble]". July 19
* Englund, Eric. 2005A. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/englund/englund24.html Houses Are Consumer Durables, Not Investments,]" June 8
* Englund, Eric. 2005B. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/englund/englund25.html Diminishing Property Rights Will Lead to a Higher Rate of Mortgage Defaults.]" June 28
* Englund, Eric. 2005C. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/englund/englund27.html When the Housing Bubble Bursts, Will President Bush Practice Mugabenomics?]" July, 19
* Englund, Eric. 2005D. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/englund/englund30.html When Will America's Housing Bubble Burst?]" November 4
* Englund, Eric. 2006. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/englund/englund34.html The Federal Reserve and Housing: A Cluster of Errors?]" April 22
* Englund, Eric. 2007. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/englund/englund41.html From Prime to Subprime, America's Home-Mortgage Meltdown Has Just Begun.]" September 24
* Englund, Eric. 2008. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/englund/englund43.html Countrywide Financial Corporation and the Failure of Mortgage Socialism.]" January 28
* French, Doug. 2005. "[http://mises.org/daily/4403 Condo-mania.]" July 11
* Grant, James. 2001. "[http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/09/opinion/09GRAN.html?ex=1001147153&ei=1&en=898b/8611aaca6946 Sometimes the Economy Needs a Setback.]" New York Times. September 9
* Karlsson, Stefan. 2004. "[http://mises.org/daily/1670 America's Unsustainable Boom.]" November 8
* MacKenzie, D.W. 2003. "[http://mises.org/daily/1337/Doubts-about-Recovery Doubts about Recovery]" October 08
* Mayer, Chris. 2003. "[http://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=450&sortorder=articledate The Housing Bubble.]" The Free Market. Volume 23, Number 8 August
* Mueller, Antony P. 2004. "[http://mises.org/daily/1627 Mr Bailout]", September 30
* Murphy, Robert P. 2007 "[http://blog.mises.org/7590/the-feds-role-in-the-housing-bubble/ The Fed’s Role in the Housing Bubble.]" December 28
* Murphy, Robert P. 2008. "[http://mises.org/daily/3203 Did the Fed, or Asian Saving, Cause the Housing Bubble?]" November 19
* North, Gary. 2002. "[http://www.garynorth.com/members/login.cfm?hpage=351.cfm How the FED Inflated the Real Estate Bubble by Pushing Down Mortgage Rates: Report As of 2002,]" Reality Check, March 4
* North, Gary. 2005. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north416.html Surreal Estate on the San Andreas Fault.]" November 25, 2005
* Paul, Ron. 2000. "[http://ronpaulforcongress.com/html/republic.html A Republic, If You Can Keep It]" January 31
* Paul, Ron, 2002. [http://paul.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=323&Itemid=60 "Testimony to U.S. House of Representatives"], July 16
* Polleit, Thorsten. 2006. "[http://mises.org/daily/2111 Sowing the Seeds of the Next Crisis.]" April 25
* Ptak, Justin. 2003. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig4/ptak3.html Government Employees, Go Home!]" November 12
* Rockwell, Llewellyn H, Jr. 2002. "[http://mises.org/daily/929 The Marvel That Is Capitalism]" April 08
* Rockwell, Llewellyn H, Jr. 2008. [http://mises.org/resources/3861 The Left, the Right, and the State]. Auburn, AL: The Mises Institute, 2008
* Rogers, Jim. 2005. "[http://thehousingbubble.blogspot.com/2005/04/jim-rogers-on-housing-bubble.html Interview with Jim Rogers on the housing bubble.]" April 22
* Schiff, Peter. "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h2x7R8pxUs Peter Schiff predictions]" (video) Undated A.
* Schiff, Peter. "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0QN-FYkpw&feature=related Peter Schiff Was Right]" (video). Undated B.
* Schiff, Peter. "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0YTY5TWtmU Peter Schiff was right 2006-2007 - CNBC edition]" (video). Undated C.
* Schiff, Peter. "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq1N70vym1g Peter Schiff Was Right Again ]" (video). Undated D.
* Schiff, Peter. 2003A. [http://www.europac.net/commentaries/fed_official_admits_emperor_has_no_clothes Commentary, March]
* Schiff, Peter. 2003B. [http://www.europac.net/commentaries/lies_fed_chairman_tells Commentary, April]
* Schiff, Peter. 2003C. [http://www.europac.net/commentaries/fed_policy_indicates_belief_real_estate_bubble_too_big_burst Commentary, June]
* Schiff, Peter. 2004A. [http://www.europac.net/commentaries/arms_way_tender_trap_adjustable_rate_mortgages Commentary, May]
* Schiff, Peter. 2004B. [http://www.europac.net/commentaries/ny_fed_sees_no_evidence_housing_bubble_are_they_blind Commentary, June]
* Schiff, Peter. 2005A. [http://www.europac.net/commentaries/still_not_convinced_theres_real_estate_bubble_read Commentary, April]
* Schiff, Peter. 2005B. [http://www.europac.net/commentaries/housing_speculation_more_rampant_you_think Commentary, July]
* Schiff, Peter. 2005C. [http://www.europac.net/commentaries/home_equity_not_savings Commentary, August]
* Schiff, Peter. 2005D. [http://www.europac.net/commentaries/wall_street_wakes Commentary, October]
* Schiff, Peter. 2006A. [http://www.europac.net/media/tv_interviews/peter_schiff_january_10_2006_cnbc_morning_call&type=wmv Appearance on CNBC, January] (video)
* Schiff, Peter. 2006B. [http://www.europac.net/media/lectures_amp_debates/february_2006_peter_schiff_us_bubble_economy Speech to the Money Show Conference, February] (video)
* Schiff, Peter. 2006C. [http://www.europac.net/media/lectures_amp_debates/november_2006_mortgage_bankers_association_speech Speech to the Western Regional Mortgage Bankers Conference in Las Vegas] November (video, [http://www.csaba.se/2009/09/26/peter-schiff-mortgage-bankers-speech-2006-complete-transcript/ transcript])
* Schiff, Peter. 2007A. [http://books.google.com/books?id=gUbvPPD9QkUC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse] (1st edition) New York, N.Y.: Wiley, February 2007
* Schiff, Peter. 2007B. [http://www.europac.net/media/tv_interviews/peter_schiff_january_12_2007_fox Appearance on Fox News – January 12] (video)
* Sennholz, Hans F. 2002. "[http://mises.org/daily/1089 The Fed is Culpable.]" November 11
* Shostak, Frank. 2003. "[http://mises.org/daily/1177 Housing Bubble: Myth or Reality?]" March 4
* Shostak, Frank. 2005 "[http://mises.org/daily/1882 Is There a Glut of Saving?]" August 4
* Thornton, Mark. 2004A. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/thornton/thornton11.html 'Bull' Market?]" February 9.
* Thornton, Mark. 2004B. "[http://mises.org/daily/1533 Housing: too good to be true.]" June 4
* Thornton, Mark. 2004C. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/thornton/thornton18.html A Bull Market in Gold — Technically Speaking]", March.
* Thornton, Mark. 2005A. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/thornton/thornton27.html Is the Housing Bubble Popping?]" , August.
* Thornton, Mark. 2005B. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/thornton/thornton29.html The Price of Gold: How High Can it Go?]", August.
* Thornton, Mark. 2006. "[http://mises.org/journals/scholar/Thornton13.pdf The Economics of Housing Bubbles.]", June
* Thornton, Mark. 2007A. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/thornton/thornton33.html "We Told You So"], March.
* Thornton, Mark. 2007B. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/thornton/thornton32.html Illegal Immigrants and the Housing Bubble]", March.
* Thornton, Mark. 2007C. "[http://blog.mises.org/6948/new-record-skyscraper-and-depression-in-the-making/ New Record Skyscraper (and depression?) in the making]", August
* Thornton, Mark. 2007D. "[http://www.lewrockwell.com/thornton/thornton38.html You Heard It Here First]", August
* Trask, H.A. Scott. 2003. "[http://mises.org/daily/1363 Reflation in American History.]" October 31
* Wenzel, Robert. 2004. "[http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2008/07/government-isnt-god-fdic-sticks-banks.html Government Isn't God: FDIC Sticks Banks With Bad Loans and Sticks Borrowers With Subprime Junk.]"
* Woods, Thomas E. Jr. 2009. Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse. Washington D.C.: Regnery Publishing

==Other predictions==
* The [[Skyscraper index]] shows a correlation between the construction of the world's tallest buildings and impending financial crises. While not developed by Austrian economists, it is compatible with their views about the [[business cycle]].<ref name="Thornton_Skyscrapers">Mark Thornton. [http://mises.org/daily/3038 "Skyscrapers and Business Cycles"], ''Mises Daily'', August 23, 2008. Originally appeared in the ''Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics'' vol. 8, no. 1 (Spring 2005) - [http://mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae8_1_4.pdf PDF]. There is also an [http://media.mises.org/mp3/audioarticles/3038_Thornton.mp3 MP3] audio file read by the author. Referenced 2011-12-13.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Links==
* [http://economicsofcontempt.blogspot.com/2008/07/official-list-of-punditsexperts-who.html The Unofficial List of Pundits/Experts Who Were Wrong on the Housing Bubble] by Posted by Economics of Contempt, July 2008
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XbG6aIUlog Keynesian Predictions vs. American History | Thomas E. Woods, Jr.] (video), January 2010 
* [http://mises.org/daily/4177 The Federal Reserve as a Confidence Game: What They Were Saying in 2007] by Mark Thornton, March 2010

[[Category:Austrian School of Economics]]
{{Stub}}

Corporatocracy

2011-11-02T19:28:17Z

173.245.55.236: /* Arguments */ *some* other institutions

{{About|the system of government|the general social theory|Corporatism|Corporate influence in society|Corporacracy}}

{{wikipedia text||397847193}}
'''Corporatocracy''', in social theories that focus on conflicts and opposing interests within society, denotes a system of government that serves the interest of, and may be run by, corporations and involves ties between government and business. Where corporations, conglomerates, and/or government entities with private components, control the direction and governance of a country, including carrying out economic planning notwithstanding the 'free market' label.<ref>{{cite book|title=Understanding Social Problems|publisher=Cengage Lerning|year=2009|page=256|author8=Linda A. Mooney, David Knox, and Caroline Schacht}}</ref>

==Concept==

The concept of corporatocracy is that corporations, to a significant extent "own" or have massive power over governments, including those governments nominally elected by the people, and that they exercise such power not by back-room conspiracies but by their enormous, concentrated economic power, and by legal in-the-open mechanisms (lobbyists, campaign contributions to office holders and candidates, threats to leave the state or country for another with less oversight and more subsidies etc). As Oliver Stone explained, "Wall Street, you know, you could say... runs the world. Wall Street, the pharmaceutical lobbies, the oil lobbies, they run our government"<ref>[http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/21/academy_award_winning_filmmaker_oliver_stone Academy Award-Winning Filmmaker Oliver Stone Tackles Latin America’s Political Upheaval in "South of the Border", US Financial Crisis in Sequel to Iconic "Wall Street"]</ref>

First, corporations provide financial support to competing political parties and major political party candidates. This allows the corporations to hedge their bets on the outcome of an election so that they are assured to have a winner who is indebted to them. As politicians are increasingly dependent on campaign contributions to become elected, their objectiveness on issues which concern corporate interests is compromised.

Second, in many cases former corporate executives are appointed as powerful decision makers within government institutions. They are often charged with the regulation of their former or future employers. Government employees who collude with corporations often accept high-ranking positions within corporations once they have demonstrated their commitment to serve the corporate interest. These lucrative offers provide incentive for government employees to serve Lobby groups as well as provides their new employers with access to governmental decision makers. This is known as the 'revolving door' between corporations and the institutions established to regulate their behavior; and can lead to regulatory capture.

Finally, the economic regime, while often called 'free market,' involves centralized economic planning and coordination by corporations, with governments playing the role of an assistant to such corporate central planning. Chomsky described this dimension, noting about international trade that "trade" is "a dubious term for a system in which some 40 percent of U.S. trade takes place within companies, centrally managed by the same highly visible hands that control planning, production and investment."<ref>[http://www.chomsky.info/articles/199303--.htm Notes of NAFTA: "The Masters of Man"]</ref> Chomsky also describes the economic regime of the corporatocracy or de factro corporate-run world, citing economists on the centralized coordination and planning underlying the economic sphere:

<blockquote>Herman Daly and Robert Goodland, two World Bank economists, circulated an interesting study: they point out that received economic theory—the standard theory
on which decisions are supposed to be based—pictures a free market sea with tiny little islands of individual firms. These islands, of course, aren't internally free—they're centrally managed. But that's okay, because these are just tiny little islands on the sea. We're supposed to believe that these firms aren't much different than a mom-and-pop store down the street. Daly and Goodland point out that by now the islands are approaching the scale of the sea. A large percentage of cross-border transactions are within a single firm, hardly 'trade' in any meaningful sense. What you have is centrally managed transactions, with a very visible hand—major corporate structures—directing it.<ref>[http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Chomsky/ChomOdon_GlobEcon.html The new global economy by Noam Chomsky]</ref></blockquote>

==Arguments==

There are currently no governments labeled by any governmental agencies as a corporatocracy. However, a large body of research including the work of many political progressives such as Naomi Klein in her book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise Of Disaster Capitalism and Noam Chomsky in his book Profit Over People: Neoliberalism & Global Order, has criticized many governments for being ''de facto'' corporatocracies because governments tend to obscure the degree to which corporate interests are entangled in their affairs. An objective standard for declaring a government a corporatocracy is often misdirected from public discussion in-part because these facts are heavily propagandized. However most Western governments based on a capitalist system have been classified by evidential research as being corporatocracies because most media outlets are controlled through corporate ownership and advertising; and, corporations are by far the main contributors to political candidates and causes. Corporate campaign contributions create a dependency of the politician on the corporation - in order to keep his power and wealth (i.e. to continue receiving support for re-election bids), by which they are obliged to "pay back" to the corporation using their political influence. And the domination of media outlets by a select few corporations also eliminates one of the primary systems of checks and balances of a democracy.

Many reporters and researchers have argued that corporations also exert their influence through the World Trade Organisation.<ref>[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5800206429960925518 See the Documentary, "Codex Alimentarius"]</ref> Through this methodology, governments are more in control of their countries at a domestic level, while international corporations rule those nations at a more abstracted level through the control and flow of capital (often including natural resources and populations) across borders; thus creating a manageable and pliable "global corporatocracy" or hegemony.<ref>See Catherine Keller, On The Mystery: Discerning Divinity in Process, Fortress Press, Minieapolis, 2008 (page 6-7) [http://books.google.ca/books?id=L2q_eSa_ss8C&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=catherine+keller+on+the+mystery+corporatocracy&source=bl&ots=GKtUcfPvRz&sig=_qPXKADiLkEgwI0c6I4ZSb7loa4&hl=en&ei=_zk4Suj6FNTSlAfbspXnDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1].</ref> This global influence in turn has a great deal of power over the national and trans-national (e.g. the EU, NAFTA) governments, who rely and to a great extent, depend upon these practices.

The most common contradiction of the term "corporatocracy" and its use in the lexicon is the theorem that corporations are primarily superficial entities possessing no real political power. Instead, it is the people behind those corporations that hold the power who act upon their own individual political ideologies. In this sense, a corporatocracy is nothing more than a market segmentation where the class which owns the means for producing wealth is fighting for their own individual-self interests. The direct challenge to this theorem is the fact that a corporation is by definition a 'collection' which is built of private (and more often public) wealth funneled into a vertical hierarchy without the requirement of any democratic controls and designed for the singular cause of maximizing roi (return on investment: i.e. the expansion of the control of capital). And this entity (or institution) has legally been ruled through almost all court systems to be considered a single 'person' and given the inalienable human rights thereto required by most constitutions for human beings. This means that corporations have the ability to use direct democratic channels reserved for citizens (and denied to some other institutions including: tax-exempt religious organizations, non-profits, and government-subsidized universities); and are also represented and protected as an individual within the courts when facing public scrutiny and regulation.<ref>[http://www.thecorporation.com/ The Corporation, 2003]</ref>

====Wealth====

It is also primarily significant that the wealthiest 1 percent globally now own almost 40 percent of the world's capital, and that most of these same people have significant ties to the richest and most influential corporations.
<ref>Sam Pizzigati, [http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3819 Deeply Unequal World] in Foreign Policy in Focus.</ref>
<ref>The United Nations University WIDER study on the, [http://www.wider.unu.edu/events/past-events/2006-events/en_GB/05-12-2006/ World Distribution of Household Wealth].</ref>
<ref>[http://www.iariw.org/papers/2006/davies.pdf The World Distribution of Household Wealth] study by Davies et al.</ref>

====Democracy vs. Corporatocracy====
Alex Carey, the late Australian lecturer in industrial relations, sociology and psychology, wrote that "The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy."<ref>[http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/25/006.htmlReview of Alex Carey, Taking the Risk out of Democracy: Propaganda in the US and Australia]</ref><ref>[http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/4041 Alex Carey: Corporations and Propaganda]</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIk6-4KosE0 Alex Carey Corporations and Propaganda Pt 1]</ref> The Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy states that "Giant corporations govern, even though they are mentioned nowhere in our Constitution or Bill of Rights. So when corporations govern, democracy is nowhere to be found."<ref>[http://www.poclad.org/ POCLAD: Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy]</ref> Lisa Graves, Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy and former Chief Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee and Deputy Assistant Attorney General has stated that recent court rulings on increasing corporate power "expand the influence of corporations at the expense of the rights of individuals, and..will not stand the test of time"<ref>[http://www.poclad.org/?pg=Articles Court Decision is "Pearl Harbor for American Democracy"]</ref> Addressing the Harvard Divinity School's Theological Opportunities Program, Mary Zepernick has argued that
"There are two historical streams in U.S. history ..one is about the decentralization of power, public decision-making, self-governance -- about democracy; the other is about the concentration of power, private decision-making, governance by the few and the corporation as their governing institution."<ref>[http://www.poclad.org/?pg=Articles&show=a041021.txt The Impact of Corporations on the Commons ]</ref> According to Christine E. Sleeter:<ref>[http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ825486&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ825486 Teaching for Democracy in an Age of Corporatocracy] by Christine E. Sleeter, Teachers College Record, v110 n1 p139-159 2008, Teachers College, Columbia University.</ref>
<blockquote>A challenge for teachers who support teaching for and about democracy is doing so while being pressed into directives rooted in corporatocracy, a political manifestation of neoliberalism. The accountability movement today, particularly No Child Left Behind, is rooted in much more firmly in corporatocracy than democracy. Democratically minded teachers face two tasks: negotiating increasingly undemocratic systems in order to find space for democratic teaching, and critically examining what democracy is, including gaps between its ideals and actual practice.
</blockquote>

===Buying politicians controversy===

Those who dismiss the idea of a corporatocracy often say the only way it is possible is if it were legal to buy a politician's vote. In such a way, the corporation would, in fact, have a direct vote on major policy matters. However, many legitimate democracies have made vote buying illegal. But, under the terms of at-will employment, corporations can require their employees to vote a certain way in exchange for (continued) employment.<ref>Catherine Keller, On The Mystery, Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 2008 (chapter 1). [http://books.google.ca/books?id=L2q_eSa_ss8C&pg=PA1&dq=catherine+keller+on+the+mystery+chapter+1]</ref>

Those who believe there may be corporatocracies argue that no one individual, and perhaps no other groups of individuals, would have that much power, money or influence. Further, they argue the decisions on what to push for and who to support are made by a relatively few from inside the corporation. Therefore, while thousands of people may make up a corporation, only a few have the power to speak for the corporation and advocate issues on behalf of the corporation. That provides those corporations with a substantial amount of power, leading to a corporatocracy.

Further, they argue that it does not take an overt effort to buy a politician's vote. Making a substantial donation to a certain politician's campaign could be seen as sending a signal to that politician that the money is there if they vote in a way the corporation desires. Conversely, the money could be donated to an opponent if the vote does not go the corporation's way.

A politician's entrance into a mainstream political party and selection as a political candidate depend on having views that are in-line with the party, which is largely supported by donations from corporations. In other words, the politicians are pre-screened to some extent, often towards corporate-friendly views. Furthermore, much of the policy analysis in Western countries is carried out in privately funded back offices. This means that policies are under the umbrella of corporations at the design and validation stages. Accusations of foregone conclusions in policy analysis are commonplace. On the flipside, analysis can reveal negative consequences for businesses, which are often negative consequences to the public as well. The definition of democracy in many minds has evolved so much in this direction that when non-corporate-friendly views make their way into government, corruption and/or flawed democracy is a common accusation. For example, the coalition of several populist parties in Venezuela led to the fair election of Hugo Chavez.

==Usage==
*U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower himself argued against the strengthening corporatocracy in the form of a military-industrial complex that sets national and international financial, economic, political and military policies due to a permanent war economy.

*In his 2004 book ''Confessions of an Economic Hit Man'', John Perkins writes; "corporations, banks, and governments (collectively the corporatocracy)".<ref>John Perkins, "Confessions of an Economic Hitman," page xiii, Berrett-Koehler Publishers (November 9, 2004)</ref>

*The concept of a government run by corporations or instances where governments are actually weaker (politically, financially, and militarily) than corporations is a theme often used in both political fiction and science fiction. In these instances the dominant corporate entity is usually dubbed a megacorporation, such as the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company in ''Final Fantasy VII''.

==See also==
*[[Federal Reserve]]

==Notes==
<references />

==Links==
*John Perkins (author) [http://www.johnperkins.org/?page_id=9 lecture on Corporatocracy]
*Dave Johnson, Huffington Post, [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-johnson/monopoly-corporatocracy-r_b_431618.html Monopoly Corporatocracy Replaces Democracy]
*Keith Harrington, Huffington Post, [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keith-harrington/the-bp-spill-corporatocra_b_613734.html The BP Spill: Corporatocracy Ground Zero?]
*John Perkins (author), Huffington Post, [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-perkins/battle-the-corporatocracy_b_612954.html?ir=Green Battle the Corporatocracy by Demanding Sustainability]
*Andy Webster, New York Times, [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/15/movies/15apol.html Thoughts on a ‘Corporatocracy’]
*Prop 14 is 'Corporatocracy' says Green Party candidate, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45I4XfBXCwg&feature=player_embedded Linda Piera-Avila for Santa Monica City Council on issues]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=1Zb3-2UxHyUC&pg=PT282&dq=Corporatocracy&hl=de&ei=5SceTIrBAdT5_AbUxMGxDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=Corporatocracy&f=false Understanding Social Problems] by Von Linda A. Mooney, David Knox, Caroline Schacht
*[http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ825486&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ825486 Teaching for Democracy in an Age of Corporatocracy] by Christine E. Sleeter, Teachers College, Columbia University.
*corporatOCRACY.biz: [http://corporatocracy.biz/about "Corporatism meets Democracy; Wall Street meets Main Street."]